From Bitcoins to Chinese, these were the most popular online courses in 2018

From Machine Learning, Cryptocurrency Technologies and Bitcoins to Chinese, these were the most popular online courses in 2018.

Online courses offered by the world’s most prestigious universities became a perfect way to gain some new skills. Especially, that many of these courses can be taken for free. However, with thousands of possibilities out there, it’s easy to feel lost.

Those who are hesitating what online course to choose can take look at the list of the most popular online courses of 2018. Coursera, the global online learning provider, releases such list every year.

According to Coursera, 2018’s ten most popular courses show that cutting-edge tech skills continue to be the most sought after in online education. On the other hand, people are also looking for knowledge on how to feel happy or how to learn more efficiently.

Machine Learning

This course offered by Stanford University provides a broad introduction to machine learning, datamining, and statistical pattern recognition.

According to the description of this course, machine learning is the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed. In the past decade, machine learning has given us self-driving cars, practical speech recognition, effective web search, and a vastly improved understanding of the human genome.

Many researchers also think it is the best way to make progress towards human-level AI.

In this class, students learn about the most effective machine learning techniques, and gain practice implementing them and getting them to work for themself. More importantly, they’ll learn about not only the theoretical underpinnings of learning, but also gain the practical know-how needed to quickly and powerfully apply these techniques to new problems.

Finally, the course covers some of Silicon Valley’s best practices in innovation as it pertains to machine learning and AI.

Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects

McMaster University and University of California San Diego prepared a course about learning techniques used by experts in art, music, literature, math, science, sports, and many other disciplines.

Students learn how the brain uses two very different learning modes and how it encapsulates (“chunks”) information. The course also covers illusions of learning, memory techniques, dealing with procrastination, and best practices shown by research to be most effective in helping to master tough subjects.

The Science of Well-Being

Yale University’s course “The Science of Well-Being” taught by Professor Laurie Santos overviews what psychological science says about happiness. The purpose of the course is to not only learn what psychological research says about what makes us happy but also to put those strategies into practice.

The first part of the course reveals misconceptions we have about happiness and the annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do. The next part of the course focuses on activities that have been proven to increase happiness along with strategies to build better habits.

The last part of the course gives learners time, tips, and social support to work on the final assignment which asks learners to apply one wellness activity aka “Rewirement” into their lives for four weeks.

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies

This Princeton University’s online course looks into how Bitcoin works, what makes Bitcoin different, how anonymous are Bitcoin users, what determines the price of Bitcoins, and other important issues.

Algorithms, Part I

The course offered by Princeton University covers the essential information that every serious programmer needs to know about algorithms and data structures, with emphasis on applications and scientific performance analysis of Java implementations.

Part I covers elementary data structures, sorting, and searching algorithms. Part II focuses on graph- and string-processing algorithms.

English for Career Development

University of Pennsylvania prepared a course for job-seekers. They will learn how to describe themselves and their experiences in a résumé, how to build their job-related vocabulary, how to write a cover letter.

One part of the course is dedicated to teach job-seekers language for meeting new people, making small talk, and describing.

Financial Markets

In this Yale University’s couse students learn the basics of financial markets, insurance, Capital Asset Pricing Model,dive into some details of behavioral finance, forecasting, pricing, debt, and inflation. The course also takes a look into the recent past, exploring recessions, bubbles, the mortgage crisis, and regulation.

This course is an overview of the ideas, methods, and institutions that permit human society to manage risks and foster enterprise. Introduction to risk management and behavioral finance principles to understand the real-world functioning of securities, insurance, and banking.

Introduction to Psychology

University of Toronto offers a course that highlights the most interesting experiments within the field of psychology, discussing the implications of those studies for our understanding of the human mind and human behavior.

The course will explore the brain and some of the cognitive abilities it supports like memory, learning, attention, perception and consciousness. Also it will examine human development – both in terms of growing up and growing old – and will discuss the manner in which the behavior of others affect our own thoughts and behavior.

Finally it will take a look at various forms of mental illness and the treatments that are used to help those who suffer from them.

Cómo hacer una tesis

This online course in Spanish offered by Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico helps to write a final year project faster and more productive.

Chinese for Beginers

Peking University’s online course is a good choice for those who are interested in Chinese culture and language.

This is an ABC Chinese course for beginners, including introduction of phonetics and daily expressions.

After taking this class, learners can have a basic understanding of Chinese Mandarin and make basic conversations of daily living such as exchanging personal information, talking about daily arrangements and food, asking about price, introducing the city and the weather, telling your hobbies etc.